Brown steals championship lead 

Race 4 winner Will Brown has snatched the championship lead from Broc Feeney, who was forced to regret a late mistake.

A great getaway helped Brown beat pole man Cam Waters in the run down to turn 1 and the #87 went on to dominate all 17 laps.

Another Triple Eight 1-2 appeared a certainty with Brown leading Broc Feeney until the #88 made a mistake at the penultimate corner.

Unlike Matt Payne on Thursday, the mistake saw Feeney lose a podium as Mark Winterbottom scored a first top three at Albert Park since 2015 with a sensational second for Team 18.

Joining them on the podium was Payne, who somehow held onto third despite a shattered right front after contact with Anton De Pasquale.

Feeney ended up coming home fourth due to the mistake and to rub salt into the wound, he relinquished an 18-point championship lead to Brown after the latter also claimed the fastest lap convincingly.

“It was really cool,” Brown said.

“I had a super fast car so was able to manage it from the front.”

Winterbottom was also elated to give Team 18 a sixth podium finish.

“That was hectic and I am so happy to get a podium,” “Frosty” said. 

“We are rebuilding and this team is really going somewhere.

“Just need to get one result and the rest builds.”

Will Brown beats Cam Waters in the fight for the lead off the start. Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography

The race began under clear skies at the hottest part of the day with tyre deg expected to play a bigger factor.

It was an even start between Brown and Waters and despite the Monster Mustang pushing across the track, the #87 won the battle to snatch the lead on the inside as Feeney slotted in behind, while Winterbottom and Payne clashed for fourth.

De Pasquale and Payne both went a long way wide after side to side at turn 4, which allowed Le Brocq to surge to fifth.

De Pasquale was the big loser, with the wheel to wheel contact forcing him straight to the garage and effectively out of action.

“Pretty disappointing,” the DJR driver said.

“Clean first couple of corners and then just got driven into which broke the steering straight away. Not much you can do.”

Nick Percat was the big mover, going up seven spots to seventh on the opening lap alone.

Although Brown was in charge, he was only able to pull half a second on Waters and Feeney with the top 11 only split by 3s.

A small gap appeared back to Todd Hazelwood after contact between Ryan Wood and Thomas Randle sent the crossed up Tickford driver into the gravel at turn 1.

Davison shot into the top five with a big dive on Le Brocq and it unsettled the Erebus driver as he dropped to eighth.

Le Brocq fought back to snare seventh from Percat after a mighty battle from turns 3-5.

On lap 7 Triple Eight made its mark on the race. As Brown was able to pull a second on the field as Feeney and Waters tangled contesting second.

Thomas Randle had an eventful race with two trips through the gravel. Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography

Feeney set the move up with a big dive on his Tickford rival at turn 11, only for the Mustang to attempt the switchback at the following right hander.

But Waters did not quite get up far enough and tagged the rear of the #87.

Whilst both survived, the seas parted for Winterbottom to surge to second ahead of Feeney, who was able to cling onto third, while Waters dropped back to sixth.

Winterbottom’s time in second only lasted four corners before Feeney fired down the inside of turn 4 and restored a Triple Eight 1-2.

This was just one example of a number of battle packs that featured throughout the race.

Another one was Reynolds’ desperate attempt to defend eighth, but dropping it in the dirt on the exit of turn 8 proved costly and opened the door for both Erebus Camaros to sneak through.

Another driver who struggled to retain position was Chaz Mostert with the WAU Mustang falling from ninth to 19th due to a possible blistered tyre.

By lap 15 Brown was finding top gear, smashing the fastest lap by being the first to dip into the 1m49s window and push his advantage to almost 2s.

A Triple Eight 1-2 appeared certain until lap 16 when Feeney suddenly slipped from second to fourth behind both Winterbottom and Payne.

Mark Winterbottom took a second best result for Team 18 and best at Albert Park since 2015. Image: Peter Norton

It was a similar mistake to Payne in race 1 but with greater consequence, this time losing the podium and the championship lead.

Further back Hill and Randle speared off at the high speed turn 10.

The moment saw the MSR car spun by the Tickford driver, who received a 15s time penalty as a consequence.

Triple Eight will aim to carry on its dominance on Saturday when two qualifying sessions, plus race 6 take place.

2024 Supercars Race 4 Melbourne SuperSprint results

Supercars Australian Grand Prix schedule

Thursday, March 21

Practice 1: 1: M. Jones 2: M. Payne 3: C. Waters

Practice 2: 1 B. Feeney 2: C. Waters 3: A. De Pasquale

Qualifying R3 Qualifying R4 Poles B. Feeney, C. Waters

Race 3: 1: B. Feeney 2: W. Brown 3: M. Payne

Friday, March 22

Race 4 (20 laps): 14.50-15.35

Saturday, March 23

Qualifying R5: 09.00-09.15

Qualifying R6: 09.25-09.40

Race 5 (14 laps): 17.35-18.10

Sunday, March 24

Race 6 (14 laps): 10.20-10.55

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